Light of Nonviolence

Author(s): Sushilmuni
Publisher: Vishwa Ahimsa Sangh Delhi

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see the interconnections in caring for ourselves and all other beings, nonviolence would not be just an ideal. Its full realization would create a world reflective of the perfected jiva-nature within each of us.
Due to the certainty of physical and existential death, and the suffering, poverty, and ignorance of so many persons on Earth, we must and can live a heroic life. Life is dangerous but the perfected ones, the arihantas of Jain history, have shown us that we can make it safely to the other side. With perfect faith, we can act freely and responsibly; with a perfect mind, we can understand what must be done; and with perfect action, we can bring our compassionate heart into harmony with our jiva nature. In actual experience, humans rarely if ever realize these perfections as absolutes but only relatively, qualitatively, and contextually.
In Jain religious philosophy, these perfections or potentialities of our nature are known as the three jewels of Self-realization: perfect understanding, perfect action, and perfect faith. They are the path and the goal, the essence and the existence, of who we each uniquely are, in our jiva-ajiva experiences of becoming.
In sum, Jainism implies the ontological freedom to choose a life of meaning, love, and goodness. But it does not promise a rose garden due to the weight of previous incarnations and karmas. When we realize who we are, in our jiva-nature, however, then the possibilities are lim